WHO: Pittsburgh Riverhounds, #1 seed, Eastern Conference

WHAT: The USL Championship Playoffs Eastern Conference Semifinals, which is way too many words to describe a soccer game. USL Cup Quarters is much easier, even though it’s no longer accurate.

WHEN: Saturday, November 2, 2019, 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Highmark Stadium, 510 West Station Square Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

WATCH: A lot of folks are heading up to the Steel City to watch the game in person, but locally it’ll be on WBKITV-58, streaming on ESPN+, and the radio broadcast will be on one of the iHeart AM stations or streaming on the app.

WHO, AGAIN? This is, obviously, a big game. It’s going to be a very tough game. If you can think back to the 2017 playoffs when Louisville City played a not-quite-vintage Rochester Rhinos and beat them with a lone Brian Ownby goal, I’m thinking this game will be a lot like that. Gritty. Physical. Tense. In truth, our Boys in Purple are going to have to use every ounce of mental strength they have to get through this Riverhounds team.

Pittsburgh is obviously a much better team under Bob Lilley. He’s got a lot of his former Rhinos players on that squad, plus some guys who can really score in Neco Brett and Duba Dos Santos. Kenardo Forbes, a guy that I really wanted to see in purple when he was a free agent, is creating quality chances for them. They’re incredibly difficult to break down, such that LouCity hasn’t scored on them since last season. The Hounds didn’t lose a game at Highmark all season.

It’s pretty reasonable to expect to see the same LouCity XI that we saw last week against Tampa Bay. They’re a pretty seasoned bunch now, and are playing some quality soccer. But they’re still going to have to be very disciplined not to get sucked forward trying to score and giving up a counter the other way. They’re going to have to go hard after every 50/50 ball. They’re going to have to play through contact. If Morados are going to score, it’s going to require a lot of concentration because getting through this Hounds defense is like threading a needle.

It can be done. We’ve done it before. We can do it again. City will have some good away support, an experienced manager, and a roster full of guys who have won multiple USL Cups. Morados are playing their best soccer right now. That’s going to count for something. Let’s go get it.

VAMOS MORADOS.